The ultra-light Zenos E10 sports car will finally be unveiled next month at Europe’s largest dedicated motorsport trade show, the Autosport International that runs from January 9 to 12.
The first model from Zenos Cars, a company started by former Caterham Cars CEO Ansar Ali and COO Mark Edwards (both former colleagues at Lotus), is an open-top track focused yet road legal sports car powered by a mid-mounted naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter Ford engine mated to a five-speed transverse transmission. The unit produces 200 hp at 7,200 rpm and 210 Nm (155 lb-ft) of torque at 6,100 rpm.
As the car only weighs 650kg (1,433 lbs) and subsequently has a power-to-weight ratio of 300 hp/ton, it can sprint from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 135 mph (217 km/h).
The car’s chassis consists of a single, aluminum extrusion “backbone” that spans the length of the E10, accompanied by an aluminum rear sub-frame and a safety cell incorporating twin roll hoops and side-impact protection. The driver and passenger sit either side of the spine in an integrated carbon composite monocoque, constructed from recycled carbon fibre as a skin with a thermoplastic core.
This unique architecture also gives the name of the company, as Zenos is a combination between “zen”, representing purity, and “os”, loosely Latin for “vertebra”. The E10 will enter production in late 2014, with deliveries to begin in the first quarter of 2015. Further technical details, as well as pricing, will be announced next month at the car’s premiere in Birmingham.
Zenos Cars also plans two further models for the next five years, a Roadster (Project E11) and a GT Coupé (Project E12).
By Dan Mihalascu
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